With the 4s becoming a more and more regular event, availability is slowly becoming less of an issue, making it far easier to field a decent team. We arrived at SmallHythe Cricket Club with the promise of teas and a warm welcome. It was definitely warm. We lost the toss and the opposition elected to bat. After the pitch inspection we agreed that this wasn't actually a bad thing. The pitch was extremely green with some areas looking like it hadn't been cut since last month. Surprisingly our openers Nathan S and Joe Rodgers were getting a decent bounce out of the ground, Nathan's bowling was looking good with an excellent consistent line and length. His opening 5 overs only went for 14 off 5 overs. Joe was looking good and generating massive amounts of inswing. The new ball was swinging a little too much, so much so that it pitched up exactly where the batsman liked it. Unfortunately his second over suffered. The field was adjusted to cover off that ball and Joe's overs came back to a steady rate. On at first change were Jez Trott and Adam Church. Jez was looking unplayable and was landing the ball in some fantastic spots with decent spin. One of those spots was so good that it managed to come in off the bounce and land directly on top of the stumps. Unfortunately the landing was so perfect it failed to dislodge the bails (how is that even possible?) Jez eventually got his wicket when the ball was chipped up straight into Adam's hands. Adam then came on towards the pavilion, Wow. what a great (first senior) opening over. Extremely accurate, decent pace. Adam Church was too much for their number 3 bat with a wicket maiden in his first over. Speaking of which, the wicket was an absolute stunner. The batsman chipped it up in the rough direction of Joe Salisbury. Salisbury was fully focussed and made a spectacular diving catch. Church continued well and we were looking good at drinks. 75 - 2.

Tom Gagg came on towards the pavilion and kept the pressure on with a maiden in his first over and could have had a wicket if the keeper had been a little sharper. George Gagg came on at the other end. It was at this point that their opener got his 50. He suddenly turned up the pressure on us with George and Ted Gagg taking the brunt of his, and his partner’s, attack. On Ted’s 3rd over he managed to get on top of both batsmen keeping their attacks to a minimum. They only managed 3 runs off his final over. Ted B came on next but the short boundary didn't help him. Kegan started with pace as it appeared to be the right choice, however they started to read that a little too well. He decided to unleash the off spin. It had instant effect and off their batsman went. Joe Salisbury bowled an over then Jo Rodgers and Nathan closed us out. They finished on 219.

With the target of 220 in mind we happily tucked into an extremely nice tea and started formulating a plan. As with all of the 4s games we never really know what to expect when we face friendly teams. This week was no different. Their younger opener was on target but not the fastest, from the other end they had a rather erratic bowler. Salisbury and Rodgers opened, looking good from the start but sadly the erratic nature of the older bowler managed to lure Rodgers into a false sense of security. After scoring a quick 17, a quick succession of wides followed by a direct hit was the end of Rodgers. Ted B came on in his place. Salisbury was going steady with 6 runs. But then hit the ball directly to a fielder and called the run. Sadly this was a sprint and not a marathon, with a great bit of fielding and a direct hit Joe didn't make. Adam Church came on in his place. There was a change of bowlers. Ted B and Church were looking good despite the fact that neither of them realised that a ball could be bowled so slowly. There was possibly enough time for them to run 2 in the time it took for the ball to land. After a glorious one bounce 4 by Church he was dispatched with a direct hit. He possibly fell asleep waiting for it to arrive. Ted carried on with some great boundaries scoring a decent 16. Kegan came on for Church and Tom Gagg for Ted B. These two setup a great partnership. They kept the pressure on both scoring various boundaries (4s & 6s) they carried on for some time bringing up back into the fight. Sadly Kegan wasn't used to having to run quite so much and decided to send one up for a catch when he was on 49. Was this jug avoidance we ask? Possibly. Tanky came on. At this point a few boundaries had to be scored (requiring 10 an over) there was a quick 5 but the even slower ball court Tanky out. Meanwhile Tom Gagg was still going strong. Ted Gagg came on but looked a little uncomfortable. George Gagg replaced Ted and was in form. The Gagg's carried on for a while with George getting a lovely 4. Unfortunately a couple of balls in Tom was clean bowled. Scoring a fantastic 53. Jez came on adding 3 more, but sadly we fell a little short. Finishing on 191.

It was a fantastic day despite the result with amazing performances from our young team (and the older ones). The opposition were surprised as to how well they performed.